The Pennsylvania House of Representatives plans to vote early next week on an expensive bill that will make it extremely difficult for many state residents to cast their ballots.

Pennsylvania Republicans are pushing for legislation that will require voters to show a government-approved photo ID in order to obtain their ballot.

According to a New York University study, there are an estimated 4 million people in Pennsylvania who do not have photo identification. Students, the working poor, the elderly, racial minorities, and people with disabilities are twice as likely to not have the approved forms of ID this legislation will require. This bill will create serious obstacles for these voters, many of whom are likely to vote Democratic.

This is another Republican strategy to stall progress and suppress democratic freedoms. If this voter ID bill succeeds, it will keep scores of Democratic voters away from the polls in 2012.

When Republicans tried to push a similar bill through in 2006, Governor Ed Rendell vetoed it, calling the bill "a solution in search of a problem." The current system already requires that voters prove their identity and research has shown that the system works without any evidence of impersonation fraud. To make matters worse, it could cost up to $10 million of your tax money to implement the legislation.

For Republicans, this isn't about fraud, it's about winning elections. This isn't just happening in Pennsylvania. Texas, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and New Hampshire are a few states where the legislation has already passed, and legislation is pending in dozens more -- it's clearly part of a national Republican strategy to suppress Democratic votes in 2012. --

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